mild razor

I'd recommend Wickham's Super Smooth soap as one of the most protective lathers and pretty much lathers under most conditions, so difficult to go wrong really.

I don't have a 34c but the fact that you're only getting good shaves with a feather blade (which is about the sharpest out there) makes me think it's your angle. If you're cutting with the blade at too high an angle relative to your face (e.g razor handle parallel with your face) then the blade is scraping across your face; imagine if the blade were 90 degrees to your face then that would cause a lot of drag and irritation. Now think of the blade almost flat on your face; that would produce the least resistance.
So you're aiming to get a low angle between the blade and skin which is achieved by raising the handle angle (i.e more to the horizontal). You can test this, raising the handle you'll get a closer cut but eventually the razor will be resting on your skin only by the cap and you'll lose contact with the blade. So you're aiming for the sweet spot where the cap only just prevents the blade lifting off your face.

Also make sure you map your hair growth and know which direction the hair grows on each part of your face. This will allow you to shave WTG, XTG and ATG correctly.

I would say most people would not recommend feather blades when starting up; they're just too sharp. I find them too sharp for me. Try something like an Astra SP.

It took me a good 6 months to get consistently good shaves, and in that time my skin adjusted to DE shaving. It's all about practice.

Shave on.
 
Ok, here is the way things work starting out.

The razor you have is fine......very popular model. Have confidence in that part of your shave. Better than some others to try first. Main thing is to just get an idea of what using a DE is like and figuring things out.

Blades don't much matter, except for a few oddball ones. Main thing is to just get the feel of whatever blade you end up using. If it was me looking for a mild and forgiving blade, the Crystal ( Israeli Personna) would be one. A sharper blade I like is the Gillette SharpEdge Yellow or Super Iridium.

Your lather will be poor for a while too....all part of finding out what works. It's gonna add to the discomfort a bit.

Technique takes maybe 15 shaves to start coming together. Takes two weeks and then things get easier. Use the same razor and blade type during that whole time.....that's important. Same soap too, unless it's junk.

There is the deal succinctly put. After a while every shave will be excellent, but not right away.
 
Lots of great advice here. I just want to throw in that in my experience, the 'mildest' razor I ever used was a vintage Gillette Blue tip. It was like shaving with a blunt butter knife, and not in a good way LOL You can pick one up for around £20 or so. Unfortunately, after I used mine a few times, I sold it, otherwise I'd offer it to you..

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Stick with the 34c. It is great instrument.
Use forgiving blade like the Astra sp p.e and use it for at least a couple of months until you get you technique right.

Shave WTG and then just a light pass XTG.

Then decide if you want to change razor.

34c was my first one and the one i keep coming back to comb with a feather blade, giving me my best and smoothest shaves.

Cheers
 
Thank you all for all the good advices. I tried to shave with the gillette fusion cartridge razor to Day just because i know i get a comfortable shave with no irritation but i cant get a very close shave and The blades are so expensive and last for only a fel shaves. I Will continue to train my teqhnique with the merkur and hopefully my skin gets usel to it, safety razors are much more fun heheh
Btw i got the best lather so far with the palmolive shaving cream, that stuff is amazing with alot of slickness!
 
How do you make your lather?

When I was starting out I used to whip up a lather in a small bowl and used that- No good, and why? Too impatient, a froth is not a lather!

Keep whipping it up until it looks likes whipped cream- and trust me- with patience it will.

Apply this to your beard and wait for about a minute, don't waste the time, sort out your razor and blade, then relax and start shaving.

Did you relax or where you concentrating too much? Just ignore what you are doing and enjoy the sensation.

Works for me, after the 1st pass repeat whichever way suits your beard until you are happy with the shave.

Oh, and by the way, I use various razors ranging from a mild Tech to a R41 and I truly cannot feel any difference- they all work equally well. A relaxed technique is key in my opinion.

Have fun!
 
Just shaved with a Feather Poplular razor and a Feather blade, first use of both and even though a 'super sharp' blade by reputation the combo was a very mild but very efficient shave.

Could quite of easily left the shave at 1 pass with the 2nd and 3rd being more of a touch up than removing much more of the 3 days growth.

Could easily be a go to daily shave if wanting a quick and out the door shave.
 
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